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When the Place We’re in Makes No Sense

A testament to God’s sovereignty often includes two words: perfect timing. A check arrived in the mail the day before rent was due. A friend showed up at the exact moment needed. A phone call seconds before it was too late. A stranger who asks if they can pray for you. A note of encouragement when you needed one most. A verse at just the right time.

Devotional Scripture: Exodus 2:5-10 Key Verse: “The LORD of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.” Isaiah 14:24

And we think “Wow. That was either a crazy coincidence or that was God.” But based on the Scripture before us, I’m going to say it was God. The LORD of heaven and earth, who is before all things, and through whom all things hold together (Col. 1:17).

He alone holds wisdom in his hand – giving it to those who ask (James 1:5). He alone changes the seasons and removes kings from leadership and sets up new ones (Daniel 2:20-21). He alone laid the foundation of the earth, marked off it’s measurements, and prescribed limits to the ocean saying, “Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed” (Job 38:4-11).

He doesn’t just orchestrate events here and there – He orchestrates life. As he did in countless stories of the Bible – including this one. The account of Moses birth, his nail biting jaunt down the river, his adoption by Pharaoh’s daughter, and his upbringing in the palace.

It wasn’t an accident the princess walked down to the Nile to bathe when she did. It wasn’t just perfect timing, though the timing was indeed perfect. Nor was it luck that she felt compassion for Moses.

It was God.

She knew her father’s orders. She knew the baby was to die, yet without hesitation the princess set in motion a plan to keep the child for herself. In all honesty, it makes no sense. If she had wanted a child, I’m sure she could have found an Egyptian baby. One of noble status. After all, she was daughter of Pharaoh, say the word and it was hers.

Yet she found a circumcised slave child, in a basket, in the river, and chose him.

Did she find it odd that a young Hebrew girl was close at hand, privy to the entire scene? After all, the princess was either bathing or about to. She could have been mad. “What are you doing here?” She could have ordered the young girl questioned. But instead she listened to her and allowed her to fetch a wet nurse for the hungry child. Another coincidence? I don’t think so.

But the sovereign hand of God did not stop there. Giving Jochebed the opportunity to nurse her son, gave Moses connection with his people. We aren’t told how often he got to visit his mama, or at what point he understood his story. But according to Exodus 2:11 when he grew up, he knew who his people were, despite his Egyptian upbringing.

Which we know little about, other than the fact he was instructed in all things Egypt and “mighty in his words and deeds” (Acts 7:22). In other words, he went to school. He learned to read and write and communicate and be a leader. All things that would come in handy for the man God planned to use to write the first 187 chapters of the Bible and lead his people out of Egypt (see Num. 33:2; Joshua 8:31; John 5:46; 2 Cor. 3:15)

But my favorite part is that Pharaoh housed, fed, nurtured, provided, taught, and educated the very man God would use to bring about the very thing Pharaoh was trying to prevent – a massive Israelite escape. An awesome display of God’s sovereign hand at work!

It wasn’t by accident or chance or consequence that Moses ended up in the palace. It was God’s plan, to prepare Moses for the works he prepared in advance for him to do. Sound familiar? Ephesians 2:10 says it works the same way for us too!

So when we end up in a place we didn’t expect or a situation we hadn’t anticipated, we can relax knowing God’s got a plan. And maybe, just maybe that thing that’s taking forever, that issue we never expected, that fork in the road, that mishap or misfortune is the very thing God’s going to use to prepare us for a ministry, a life, an impact far more fulfilling than we ever could have imagined.

Beloved, with God on the throne, the place we’re in has purpose.

Proverbs 16:9 says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” If this is true (and we know it is because it’s the living breathing word of God) then we can relax. Apart from sin, the place we’re in has purpose. And even then God can use our mess ups. (Can I get an amen?)

Nothing happens without God’s eye upon it. Without his knowing. His purpose always prevails. “The LORD of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand” (Isaiah 14:24).

What probably felt like terrible timing to Jochebed – a baby boy born under a death sentence, was actually God’s perfect timing.

So take heart, lean not on your own understanding and trust the LORD. Because the same sovereign God who ruled then, still rules today. Therefore, we can know, the place we’re in has purpose.

Contemplate and EvaluateWhat does the fact that God is sovereign mean for you today?How might God be preparing you or using you, as you wait or walk the path you’re on right now?

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Truth. Unrelenting, breath of fresh air, Biblical truth. I'm a farmer's wife and a busy mother of four, but first and foremost I'm a daughter of the King in need of God's grace on a minute by minute basis.